Chris, did you make it to the car show? car looks good. Congrats to the kids on their hockey championship. Mike, if I were a kid I would have loved to crawl over your M35.

 

Dan - Thanks for the congrats on Keegan's hockey Championship! I did not go to the cruise-in at the Church last night because of the threat of rain (and it did), and I did not go to the Show this morning because I was going to Gabe's game that I posted about above. It wasn't supposed to rain this morning, but it's been lightly showering on and off so I'm glad I wasn't at the Show. The last thing I want right now is the car trashed after putting so much effort into getting it Show worthy!

 

We just got back from Gabe's game a few minutes ago. His team did not play their best game, and they were using a substitute goalie, and it showed in a 5-2 loss to a team they had beaten previously in the first pass thru the schedule.

I'm probably being too critical, but I didn't think Gabe played his best game either, but then again he did have a hand in all their scoring with a goal and an assist. Yes, I'm too critical!

 

Chris - The boys look like they just finished being party trained, really starting them out young. Your grandson is too cute.

We finally had some nice weather so I went for a nice ride this early morning. A gas station I go to once in awhile to fill up because they have ethanol free. They also have 110 octane race gas $11.++ per gallon - I passed on that. Then I had to replace the radiator in my truck.

 

I need that! Moisture under my car in a "less than climate controlled" garage is a source of worry.

 

Enjoying the new golf grips. I may have made the correct selection of sizes/fittings. I spent ~1 hr on the driving range, headed out to get x3 more (new) grips, grabbed them, came home & unfortunately destroyed one of them when installing on my gap wedge. Ugh. Looks like another trip to Dick's Sporting Goods tomorrow. I hate the Dick's Sporting Goods store location near where I live but it's the only game in town.

 

Dave - It's been 6-years since I purchased those 2 mats, but I'll try and look to see if I have the info, or possibly even a link to the product. Stay tuned.

 

Dave - The mats (2) I bought were 20ft x 4ft each, total cost was $265 (Included shipping), from Overstock.com. Here is a link to the product I bought, but unfortunately it is currently out of stock. There is a link within this page to "Similar Items" that you can check. I took a quick glance and there are several different mats similar to what I purchased but I didn't check pricing.

https://www.overstock.com/Home-Garde...25b73663677ada

 

You can sometimes find that product at Lowe's &/or Home Depot. Depending on the store, some will cut to length.
Here's another good source for same/similar product:
https://www.elitegaragefloors.com/di...pattern-rolls/

 

I neglected to take a picture, but went to the new place today and used the recently arrived tiller to till the garden for my friend. We set the skids at half height, and it did struggle occasionally and slip the belt, but it got it done. I tilled two different directions and it was quite chopped up. \

Her dad and I went and built target stands while she planted and put up the fence. I had a whole lot of ticks. Tomorrow, I will go mow the yards and the field and maybe spread this cedarcide pest granules with the spreader.

 

I haven't had a tick on me in many years. I hate them.

 

Hi everyone.

Break time. Did the Walmart thing this morning then had to rest. Then had some lunch and now I need to do something productive.

Ticks. I don't think I've had a tick on me in the last couple years. They are annoying. Evidently Stockbridge ticks don't have disease or I'd have been flat on my back already. I never have ill effects from them, just itching.

Gonna go to Harbor Fright and see if I can get a new trap for varmint. I bought one years ago and have trapped several critters and relocated them, but it's getting bent up and the critters can escape. They were expensive back then, like 80 bucks. Besides, HF is my new favorite store. I love going in there and seeing all the chineseum crap that I don't need.

Dan I need to get that guy out and clean him up. I need to start collecting oil for an oil change. It takes 22 quarts.

Okay back to work. After Harbor Freight I'm taking the chain saw to Mom's and continuing cutting **** up. Hope everyone has a good day. It's beautiful here.

 

DAY FROM HELL

Out the door early to fetch a couple new golf shaft grips & a pkg. of double-sided grip adhesive wraps. You wrap the end of the golf shaft with an adhesive wrap, employing copious amounts of mineral spirits on the wrap & soaking the interior of the grip you then slide the grip over the wrap and onto the shaft. Next, to Harris Teeter grocery store for mass quantities of water & other groceries.

On my return from home I notice an ever so slight hesitation of the engine & slight peculiarity in shift points - nothing serious, but ever so slight. It's idling too fast when stopped then quickly idles down correctly to 600 RPM. Groceries unloaded, clubs in the truck & off to the driving range. Looking in the rear view mirror I detect some ever so slight cloudy appearance apparently coming from my truck, then I notice the "smell" - like burnt motor oil. Pull into the club parking lot, get of out truck & there's a trail of fluid - not drops - but a trail. Look under the engine & I have a minimum of quart of fluid leaking from the engine. Looks like trans. fluid, look again, start smelling the fluid - there's an A$$LOAD of fluid dumping on the ground. F' this $HIT...I came to hit some *****. I am now completely annoyed & anticipating my next moves w/ the diesel tractor. Aiyiyiyiyi. Smack the snot of some ***** for about 1 hour & I'm hitting everything terribly.

Walk back to the truck. I've narrowed it down to engine oil fluid. OK - I won't blow the transmission up. I evaluate my gauges and nothing out of the ordinary regarding oil pressure, trans. temp & engine temp and no idiot lights. Hmmmm....that's a load of oil on the ground - I'd say at least two quarts. I live 5 miles from the club. What to do? I decide to chance it w/ the 4-way flashers engaged driving 25 mph home. I figure at the VERY 1st sign of any knock I pull over and shut down.

Made it home. Turn engine off. Another 1 - 2 quarts of oil are under the engine w/ a trail of oil down the long concrete driveway. This is a Navistar VT365 International diesel engine - commonly referred to as the Ford 6.0L diesel. It holds 15 quarts of oil (nearly two gallons). There are (like many diesel engines) two independent cooling passages which traverse the engine: (1) Coolant passage(s) via the radiator & water pump cooling system & (2) Oil passage(s) via an external oil pump & independent oil cooling system.

I'm starving - I eat a pizza then make a decision. I have no idea how much oil has been lost but I don't want to find out what happens to this engine if it runs dry of engine oil, so that's my 1st priority - maintain engine oil at the very minimum. No oil on the dip stick. No vehicle to get oil. Fire up the JD ZTR lawn mower and zig-zag to Autozone ~1/2 mile down the road. Purchase 5 gallons of lesser quality diesel oil (STP 10-40) - I just need oil in the engine for now. Get home, the engine took 10 quarts of oil before it appeared on the dip stick. Hard time starting the truck (which is actually a good thing I believe since it helps me diagnose what I "think" may be the issue). Pull the truck into the man-cave, turn off engine & watch another quart of oil hit the concrete floor plus a nice long fat trail of engine oil getting into the man-cave.

I'm thinking - I'm actually HOPING it's one of two things: (1) The IPR (Injection Pressure Regulator) sensor, or (2) the Injection Control Pressure (ICP) sensor. Since both of those read engine oil pressure, if one of them broke, cracked, popped out or whatever, it would help to explain the large quantities of oil. In fact, it "appears" the oil is coming from the backside of the engine where both of these sensors are located. I'll add I installed brand new sensors only 6 months ago then I low #8 fuel injector when I was stranded on the side of Interstate 95 during the holidays. And, guess what - both of those sensors sit right next to the #8 fuel injector.

I could go on, suffice it to say I can't make this $HIT up.

 

Norm- I feel your pain! I ran to Lowe's to get a 13/16" combination wrench. My wife asked me to pick up a can of beans while I was out, so I ducked into the Walmart. I was in a hurry, and I didn't feel like parking way out away from the door. I found a spot next to shopping cart corral, parked my truck and ran inside.
It's just my wife and I since my son went off to college and we usually only get the smallest can of beans as a side when we have ribs, but Walmart only sells the big can of beans- and I really hate Walmart. It's the primary source of "disposable America", all the junk people spend their money on only to throw away. I see the nitwits and cretins, the pathetic and the morbidly obese, the disenfranchised fools that make up the vast majority of people living in America today. It truly makes me sad to think these people shuffle hopelessly through life accepting their cruel fate without the good sense to ask if there might be a better way...

I decide I don't have to buy what Walmart is selling. I have a choice, and I choose to leave Walmart empty handed and buy my food someplace else.

I walk out to my truck. As I'm leaving the store, there's an older woman walking with a younger woman who is clearly mentally handicapped. She moves awkwardly and has the distinctive facial features of a person born with Downs Syndrome, and she's smiling so brightly. There's a hop in her step, as if she's excited! Excited to be visiting Walmart late on a Sunday morning. I'm happy for her- but sad for myself, because I know that I will never appreciate a trip to Walmart with the genuine joy and anticipation of this brightly cheerful young woman. Blissful ignorance- and I mean her no disrespect- but once you've tasted the fruit of knowledge and Whole Foods, Walmart becomes a dreary place- for me anyway.

I walk- no, I rush back to my truck, jump in, and pull out of my parking spot. There are people loading their cars, cars trying to park- it's a free-for-all! I'm watching people and traffic and everything going on around me, just to be sure I exit safely, and as I turn out of my parking spot and into the travel lane I hear a noise. It's a kind of scraping noise, and as quickly as the noise stops, I realize that must have just side swiped something.

I stop my truck and get out. Looking back from where I just came, I see a line of shopping carts hanging two feet or more out of the corral, which was next to where I had parked on the passenger side of my truck. I walk around to the passenger side, and "horror unspeakable"! I side swiped these shopping carts pulling out of parking place, and scratched my truck from the middle of the rear door all the way to the turn signal. It's bad enough to have left a crease in the panels, and at the rear fender behind the wheel, it's down to bare metal.

I want to blame Walmart, and the cretins, the poor and lowly fools who leave shopping carts around the parking lot- but I know it's my own fault. I should have parked far away and walked, like I always do. I could have walked around to the passenger side of my truck before getting in, to make sure I was clear. I could have simply not gone to Walmart at all- and I NEVER go to Walmart! I HATE Walmart, and Walmart karma just bit me in the ***! My bad attitude and hateful demeanor created a swirling cloud of misfortune which descended on me in the most vile way- a painful and expensive mistake that I can only blame on myself.

I hate feeling this way- I'm powerless to change it. Imagine you're in a boat on crystal clear lake and you carelessly drop your watch into the lake. You can watch it sink deeper and deeper, but you're powerless to change it. All you can do is watch, feel regret. You can't ****** back the moment to redo it- mistake is made, all you have is loss and regret. That's how I feel at times like this. Powerless...

So I decided to ****** back control, to do something I can do, something uniquely me, something I can do and feel like I possess some semblance of control in this world (which we all know is completely an illusion, for none of us actually have any power or control over the most important things- life, death, illness, time and space itself). Still, I do have a13/16" wrench, so I put it to work removing the bumper from my car, and it helped me feel better- just as long as I don't look at the passenger side of my truck.


It actually looks worse than the pictures...

...and I don't know why tearing apart the nose of my car makes me feel better.

Somehow it's empowering. I don't feel so helpless.

I'm going to pull the radiator and have to pressure tested, then I'll paint everything before I put it all back together.

 

Working on the 2003 F250 diesel tractor has been a serious annoyance - one I terribly wish would disappear. For various reasons, primarily the losses I've suffered recently in the stock market, I don't want to walk out the door, drop some green backs on a new car & call it a day. I'd prefer to maintain current number of shares rather than relinquish them to cash and lose dividend opportunities (for the future). I'll hold out as long as reasonably possible. And, here I go again, I think I'll just shut up.

 

Norm and Dave - No, you can't make that $hit up! So sorry you both had such a bitch of a day, that really sucks! I feel bad for you both! 😞

 

I'm with you on the market and investments and recent trends, Norm. It doesn't feel like a good time to cash out shares for big purchase.

 

Tomorrow, is a nice sized golf tournament I've been enrolled to play in for some time. I arranged/reserved a Uber driver pickup for 0830 manana. The truck can easily wait until after golf - F'it!

 

I can easily second that opinion.

 

I 'might' get an hour or two in on the truck after golf tomorrow - I'm not holding my breath. I have no appointments/commitments this coming week or the following week. This leaves me time to work at a methodical pace. I prefer to work when I'm not on a clock.

 

HF is to the automotive/truck industry as West Marine is to the boating industry...

 

It's late Norm. Focus on your game. Clear your mind, all this will pass, I think. I believe you create in your mind the reality you face every day. Put yourself in a positive place and you'll have a great day on the course. I'm sure you'll have a great day, you deserve it.

 

If I can speak to the bigger picture- in a world where I feel like I have no control of the things that will shape my future, or my children's future, working on my car helps me feel like I have some level of control over something in my life. It brings me back to the days of my youth, when these cars were around- and my 1964 Dynamic 88 is like the car my friend had back in college, and similar to the car I had in high school. I feel connected to this car, and being able to turn the wrenches and knowing that I possess the knowledge I accumulated in my lifetime- it's life affirming. And the car is impressive. It's not concourse quality, but it's a great driver, and I enjoy working on it. It makes me happy- and to speak the truth, in my life happiness is elusive. Working on this car makes me happy.

Truth be told, I didn't plan to take my car apart today.

 

Sympathies on the automotive troubles, gents.

Today I got going moderately early, went out to the property. Fired up the tractor, put the tiller aside and picked up the field mower (which is what I am going to call the Ventrac "Tough Cut" Mower. HQ682 model.). Backed out of the shop turned around, backed in, and put the Spreader (this thing actually is called a Spreader, and it is) into the "3 in 1" adapter and got it level. When I specced this tractor, I got all the goodies on the tractor, but not all the attachments I would eventually need. I figured the power unit could stay put and be good and they could bring me new attachments like they did last week. So, I have the 3 point hitch accessory, the hydraulic top link accessory to tilt it, and this "3 in 1 adapter", which I had to look up the three things. So, those three things are: 1. It will mount Ventrac attachments back there. 2. It has a 2 inch receiver for Reese inserts. 3. You can carry tractor weights back there, and I have one on it that it came with, to balance the stuff on the front.

So I can tow a trailer, I can put this Spreader in the receiver and use it. I can, if I want to use two attachments on the other end of the property, haul one out there on the back and drop it off while using the one on the front. You can use non PTO attachments back there. I do have a spare hydraulic circuit back there for an attachment, so I could hang a blade back there, use the 3 point's lift, but also use the blade's tilt, for full function on the back while I have a loader on the front. But, today, I hooked the spreader on there.

Loaded it full of Cedarcide natural tick and bug repellent and tried to get it going. No dice. Turns out there was a bag of spare bolts blocking the exit. Pulled it through. Also pushed the stuff past a sifting screen which is removable, turns out. This is a learning process. Got it dispensing, so I shut the gate and turned off the power and off I went. I mowed the field around my friend's garden with the field mower and dispensed the cedarcide out the back. I shut off the spreader, finished the field. My friends showed up, she puttered with her garden and her dad and I tried to pull some T posts for use (of which I have a lot, firmly installed in the ground.) We about herniated ourselves, no go getting them out after a decade of being put. I foresee a fence post puller in my life. They left, and I used the big wide lawn mower deck which I had just hooked up when they got there, to mow everything I could with that size unit. I did it in three hours, so it is almost 3x the rate of my riding mower (which I will use to finish up and mow the roof of the berm building later this week). Put it away and went home. I think I did 5 hours on that thing today.

 

John - That is quite the tractor and set of attachments you have! I'm envious. I just wish I had a piece of property large enough to need something as powerful and versatile as that. 👍

 

Thanks. As I observed to my buddy, it is really an overpowered lawn mower. It is not agricultural grade. It did have to hit the gas on its own several times today as the grass was very tall to maintain set engine rpm. But, it should do what I need for my time here.

 

Norm - Good luck tomorrow! Try not to let the issue with the truck mess with your mind or spoil your fun. I know, easier said than done right, but in the end it's just a piece of machinery.

 

--Dave sorry to hear of your frustration. It just falls under the "**** happens" category of life. If I may ramble a little... I have always been a car person- all my cars were fixed up as best as I could afford, I usually started with junkers- I detailed and painted, rust fixed, etc. The other day I was looking thru 20-30 year old pictures and saw some of those cars. It brought me back to how protective I was of them. I remember having a Dodge conversion van that I had parked by a ball diamond, Yep a fowl ball came over fence, hit and put a dent in van- How disappointed I was. Anyway looking at the pics now I realize that dent didn't mean a hill of beans to me... Van was sold later and it just didn't matter... I agree working on the collector car is therapy...but your everyday drivers will come and go.
-- Norm I would also be frustrated about the truck problems. I, like you, want to keep my stuff mechanically excellent- working as it should. So as I would, you feel troubled (sort of responsible) about the oil leak and all the other stuff you have had to do to your "tractor". So it is a "job" or responsibility of yours to get it fixed.. I hear ya. I have no doubt you will though.

 

I'm placing my golf game under the $HIT HAPPENS category. I will perform no work on the truck, today.

Portabella mushrooms lightly sauteed in Balsamic Reduction, shrimps lightly coated w/ Old Bay in lemon juice, broccoli, a single (token) Brussel sprout, & salad - Blue Cheese dressing dipping sauce.

 

Norman, you are a gourmand.

 

Indeed!

 

Norm - Hopefully it's nothing too bad on your truck.

 

Thanks, Art.

 

John - Do you have a (yard) utility trailer you can pull behind the Ventrac? I seem to recall you said something about a Reese hitch carrier on the back of the Ventrac? Can you install a simple two bolt clevis since they generally provide a tighter turning radius and are easy to install/remove?

 

Hi Norm. I have a 5x8 trailer that is road worthy atm but is an absolute unit. It is a tilt, expanded metal deck, railed, 5x8 3500 lb axle 2 inch ball custom beast. I use it to haul my riding mower and other goods, although it did haul about 2000 lbs of 67 442 powertrain bought from Ed Skaff shortly before his passing (like, days) out of WV back to the Evil. I intend to tow it behind the tractor as needed, but I may get something smaller, lighter, and with a different hitch. The current trailer is a yard trash hauling machine, and that's what I would want to use it for with the tractor.

Speaking of yard trash, I learned that Ventrac does not resell a PTO pump any more, but the seller https://trunkpump.com/ makes a Ventrac Steiner drive unit for the front PTO on mine. What would be excellent is to pump with a small electric pump up to the lawn and fill a tank with water on the trailer and tow it and the pump out to a burn pit for fire safety.

 

 

John - Maybe we've previously discussed? You have well water, city water or a combination of both at your new place?

 

Gabe was in a groove tonight with 2 goals and 2 assists in a 7-2 win. He was superb in all facets of his game!

 

Diesel Tractor Update - Both batteries disconnected, air cleaner assembly removed back to turbo charger & EGR return assembly (from LH valve cover circulation) removed, coolant degas bottle/container removed (hoses capped & tied off), FICM (Fuel Injection Control Module) removed. Half of the F'ing hardware which secures the FICM to the FICM mount bracket gone. Which means the guy(s) (in the farm field) who worked on replacing two fuel injectors (when I was stranded on the side of Interstate 95) did a $hit job. The FI wiring harness itself looks like it survived a bomb blast. This is likely a combination of several/many mechanics who've worked on the truck. I give mechanics a complete failing "F" grade - F'em all. I got in ~4 hrs work for the day.

Mistakes happen when I push myself too far (especially when I get annoyed/frustrated) so I'm calling it a day. Tackle the next stream of diagnostics tomorrow (if I feel like it). A never-ending saga of pure B.S.

 

Yes, bad **** happens when tired. I hate other people working on my stuff, things get lost.

Norm, I have no wells. City water and an old twin pumps pump house on the main lake. I believe it used to be Mr. James Stewart's main water.